Who created God?
It’s an illogical question
by Don Batten
Dominos image ©StockPhoto.com/LuisPortugal
If a creator God needs to have been made by a creator, that creator would also need
a creator who needs a creator … like an infinite chain of toppling dominos,
which is an impossibility.
This question is a major objection that atheists put forward to justify their disbelief.
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), a famous British philosopher, in his influential
little essay, Why I am not a Christian, put this forward as his first objection.1 Today’s atheists repeat
the objection, including Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and Australia’s
own Philip Adams at the 2010 Global Atheists’ Congress in Melbourne Australia,
who said,
“The great argument for God was that there had to be a Creation, a beginning.
… But my objection was simple. If God was the beginning who began God?”2
This principle of causation is so fundamental that if I said that the chair you
are sitting on, which must have had a beginning, just popped into existence without
any cause, you might justifiably think I need a psychiatric assessment!
The universe had a beginning; almost no one disputes that, because the laws of thermodynamics
demand it: the universe is running down and it cannot have been running down forever,
or it would have already run down. No stars would be still churning out
energy and we would not be here.
Some have proposed one universe giving birth to another, but again, there cannot
be an infinite series of such births and deaths, as each cycle must have less energy
available than the last and if this had been happening for eternity, the death of
everything would have already happened.
There must have been a beginning.
One of the most established principles of logic / science / reality is the principle
of causality: something that has a beginning has a sufficient cause. The principle
is not, ‘Everything has a cause’; Bertrand Russell misstated it. No,
the principle is, ‘Everything that has a beginning has a sufficient
cause’. Just a moment’s thought confirms this—something which
had no beginning has no need of a cause. Furthermore, a cause has to be sufficient,
or adequate. ‘You were found in a cabbage patch’ is not a sufficient
explanation for your existence.
This principle of causation is so fundamental that if I said that the chair you
are sitting on, which must have had a beginning, just popped into existence without
any cause, you might justifiably think I need a psychiatric assessment!
Today’s atheists, who like to use words like ‘rational’, ‘reasonable’
and ‘scientific’ in describing their beliefs, believe that the greatest
beginning of all—that of the universe—had no cause whatsoever! Some
admit it is a problem, but they claim that saying ‘God did it’ explains
nothing because you then have to explain where God came from. But is this a valid
objection?
What must the cause of the universe have been like?
The cause of the universe must have been non-material because if the cause was material
/ natural, it would be subject to the same laws of decay as the universe. That means
it would have to have had a beginning itself and you have the same problem as cycles
of births and deaths of universes. So the cause of the universe’s beginning
must have been super-natural, i.e. non-material or spirit—a cause
outside of space-matter-time. Such a cause would not be subject to the
law of decay and so would not have a beginning. That is, the cause had to be eternal
spirit.
Furthermore, the cause of the universe had to be incredibly powerful; the sheer
size and energy seen in the universe together speak of that power;
there had to be a sufficient cause.
That sounds like the God of the Bible to me. The Bible reveals the Creator of the
universe as:
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the
world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:2)
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and
the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in
the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD,
and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come from you, and
you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make
great and to give strength to all. (1 Chronicles 29:11–12)
God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:24)
Note that the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth” (Genesis 1:1). Here God created time itself. Only One who
is outside of time, that is, timeless, or eternal, could do this.
Now to ask where someone who is eternal, someone who had no beginning, came from
(‘Who created God?’) is like asking, ‘To whom is the bachelor
married?’ It is an irrational question.
The Bible matches reality, which is not surprising when we consider that it claims
to be from the Creator Himself.
Two ‘great beginnings’—without any cause!
Those who reject the Creator not only have to believe that matter
came into being without any cause; they also have to believe that life
itself popped into existence without an adequate cause.
Even the simplest single-celled life is stupendously complex. A humble bacterium
is full of incredibly sophisticated nano-machines that it needs to live.3 A cell needs a minimum of over 400 different proteins
to make the machines that are absolutely essential for life.4 How could these protein-based machines make themselves,
even if all the right ingredients (20 different amino acids, but many of each) could
make themselves? The amino acids, often thousands of them, have to be joined together
in the correct order for each protein to function.
Just think about one essential machine that copies the DNA instructions for making
each protein.5 Then let’s
take just one protein component of that machine, less than 10% of the total. This
protein is 329 amino acids in length. What would be the chance of getting this one
protein by chance, assuming that the correct, and only the correct, amino
acid ingredients were present? Calculate it this way: 1/20 x 1/20 x 1/20 …
329 times!6 This is a probability
of 1 in 10428 … a number with 428 zeros after the 1! Even if every
atom in the universe (1080—a number with 80 zeros) represented
an experiment for every molecular vibration possible (1012 per second)
for the supposed evolutionary age of the universe (14 billion years=1018
seconds), this would allow ‘only’ 10110 experiments—a
long, long way short of the number needed to have a ghost of a chance of getting
just this one protein to form,7
let alone the over 400 others needed.
We marvel at the scientists who are discovering the nano-technology in living things—and
it is an astonishing enterprise. But what of the One who invented these things?
How much more intelligent is He?
It’s no wonder that Richard Dawkins admits that scientists might never work
out how life could arise by natural processes. Nevertheless, he rejects the creation
explanation for the fallacious reason above.
Now what sort of cause is sufficient to explain the origin of life? The cause must
be incredibly intelligent—far beyond our intelligence. We marvel at the scientists
who are discovering the nano-technology in living things—and it is an astonishing
enterprise. But what of the One who invented these things? How much more intelligent
is He? This reminds me of another characteristic of the God whom the Bible reveals:
He is omniscient (all knowing). See Psalm 139:2–6; Isaiah 40:13–14.
We know sufficient about the Creator from His creation to be “without excuse”.
Romans 1:18–22 says,
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress
the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown
it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things
that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they
did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their
thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became
fools … ”
And here the Bible explains why otherwise intelligent people choose to believe impossible
things—that firstly the universe, then life, just popped into existence without
any adequate cause. They choose to illogically accept that their two ‘great
beginnings’ had no sufficient cause, rather than acknowledge and honour their
Creator.
Reader’s comments
Carel R., New Zealand
Thank you for your lucid exposition of this issue; it is a brilliant response to
a question that atheists so often throw down as their ultimate trump card.
Winfred G., Philippines
“There’s probably no God. Stop worrying and enjoy life”, are lines
largely printed on some buses in Europe. These sinners are somewhat worried, subconsciously,
believed in a God but their claim THERE IS NO GOD is only a defense mechanism for
them to have an excuse for their wickedness.
Kevin D., United States
Well it took a couple of reads but I finally got this revelation to break through
my thick skull. Thank you for you effort. Praise God!
David D., United Kingdom
First of all, great article. Sinners are no doubt worried. Evolution is the perfect
‘get out of jail’ card for sinners. When faced with the truth of creation
they would rather turn away from the ‘No God’ to ‘Aliens created
us’ which is also another excuse continue to live out an immoral life with
no consequences.
If they started to believe in Creation, they must believe in the God of the bible.
Atheists and sinners are not ready to give up there immoral lifestyle, so they look
for another belief that casually fits in to there life.
Jeff M., New Zealand
The reason why creation is such an important issue: there are only two choices aren’t
there: evolution and a life where we answer only our selves, or creation and an
all-powerful God who WILL hold us accountable ... awesome verse, Romans 1:18 ...
the ostrich syndrome, of head in the sand, refusing to believe what their eyes see.
It’s not science, it’s a choice, a belief system that allows man to
believe he only has to answer to himself.
Keep up the good work.
Dave G., Dominica
Great article; presents the rock bottom of the issue from a Creationist stand point.
Though, whenever I hear this question asked by non-believers, I’m always astonished
at how they are overlooking the exact same question for THEIR first bit of ‘matter’;
how was THAT created?
Mihaela O., Romania
Very good article. These things that I read on your site really help me.
Timothy R., USA
This article excellently demonstrates the basic weakness of the atheists’
argument. Everyone who is wrestling with the questions of whether a creator exists
or not, and if the creator does exist then is the Bible the word of the creator
needs to think through all of the arguments of the atheists to the end. When the
end is reached the atheists’ position is a desire to reject the overwhelming
evidence that God has given us, a desire to grasp for something else, and sadly
a desire to hold on to the sinful ways of this world. Don’t believe the lies
of atheists. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. The God of all creation
sent His Son to die for our sins so that we may be with God. Accept the free gift
of God … Jesus Christ.
Orest M., USA
What you must realize is that just because something provides AN explanation for
a phenomenon does not mean that it is the CORRECT explanation. Although an all powerful
God does fit the bill as creator of the universe, so does a powerful time-traveling
wizard. Should I then conclude that the Universe was created by a wizard? I think
not.
Author’s response: The principle of logic stated in the article is
“something that has a beginning has a sufficient cause”. Unless you
define your “powerful time-traveling wizard” (your sanitized name for
Dawkins’ flying spaghetti monster?) as having the same attributes
as the God of the Bible (eternal, omnipotent, spiritual, omniscient, as in the article),
then your hypothetical cause is inadequate. If your “wizard” has these
same attributes, then he is God; you have just used a different name, albeit a blasphemous
one.
If your hypothetical wizard is a material entity, then you have not solved the problem
of a sufficient cause because he would have to have a beginning also. What caused
the wizard?
Furthermore, there is a consistent witness from the Bible and history to the existence
of the God of the Bible (such as the Resurrection and the survival of the early
church, and fulfilled prophecy), which reinforces the testimony of what we see around
us. However, the wizard is just your mental construct, which not even you believe
in.
Any way you look at it, you are ‘snookered’ and the truth of Romans
1, cited near the end of the article, rings true. Of course no one can prove to
you that the Creator-God of the Bible exists if you resolutely choose not to believe.
However, if you are open to the possibility of God’s existence, then God has
promised, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
(Jeremiah 29:13).
Cody M., USA
Well stated. There are way too many issues chemically and physically for an atheist
to stand firm in his or her beliefs. Sure they may have their perceived "evidence"
for evolution, but ask any evolutionist how only a few atoms out of 118 discovered
possible form the necessary molecules to form RNA? Why just organic molecules? How
did RNA begin to replicate? How did it become aware enough to build a shell out
of fats, which are different in structures to proteins? When did DNA come in, and
how did ribose gain the extra alcohol to become deoxyribose? When did uracil become
thymine? They can try to build it after the life exists, but nobody can sufficiently
explain how the non-sentient molecules made sentient organisms.
Anthony L., USA
Loved the author’s rebuttal to the time-traveling wizard response. I have
often tried to articulate that to atheists who for some reason are giddy over the
FSM construct. It is so childish a rebuke that I keep thinking they’re trying
to start a fight on the playground rather than have a serious discussion. How do
they not see that under no situation do we get here without something supernatural
happening—that is, something that doesn’t and can’t happen anymore?
What caused the atom or whatever matter to move that set the chain reaction that
caused the big bang? No doubt they’d rather believe a time-traveling wizard
did it rather than a righteous God. It’s as if Dawkins and this fellow have
never opened the Bible and actually read about the God they’re so hungry to
mock. They seem to have taken Hollywood’s view of what they think Bible-believing
Christians think about God over what the Bible actually reveals about Him. I’m
so sick of the “Jesus is magic” label. If they want to label creative
power as magic, then by all means, let it ride … but they are children, through
and through, in adult bodies that spit on the only rational belief system on the
planet. So thank you for taking the time to answer these absurd challenges. It’s
too bad you have to waste so much time trying to be reasonable rather than marveling
and studying God’s creative power … but all the same, God is using
you to touch hearts all over the planet.
Brian W., USA
Why does the Wizard have to travel through time? Did he have to go back to the beginning
of the universe and start the process himself? Doesn’t that mean he created himself?
Anyone who watches Star Trek, knows this is impossible. I’m amazed
at the lengths atheists will go through to deny the obvious fact that God created
us.
Kenneth K., Canada
Someone once said that a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.
We need to pray before engaging atheists because they may hear the logic with their
ears but not with their heart. They don't want to accept it because they love their
sin more than the light.
The Spirit of the un-caused God is the one who breaks the barriers, as He did with
me!
George D., Australia
I have always thought that Evolution is the tale that Lucifer created so he can gather more souls to HIS flock to make himself look more important.
It is fun though to listen to people spout this diatribe.
Thanks for the read.
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Related articles
Further reading
References and notes
- Bertrand Russell is respected for his skill in logic and philosophy,
especially as applied to mathematics, but this rant against God is not at all logical.
Return to text.
- Adams, P., The atheist delusion (an edited version of a speech
Phillip Adams gave at the 2010 Global Atheist Convention); abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/03/19/2850137.htm.
Return to text.
- Smith, C., Fantastic voyage: Can
the theory of evolution stand the test of modern science? Creation
30(1):20–23, 2007; creation.com/fantastic-voyage.
Return to text.
- This is the minimum required for self-reproducing life, which
is necessary before evolution can even theoretically get started. See Sarfati, J.,
How simple can life be? 14 February 2006.
Return to text.
- RNA polymerase; see www.mun.ca/biochem/courses/3107/Lectures/Topics/RNAP_bacterial.html.
Return to text.
- There is a little flexibility in the order, so it could be
a little less than 329, but not much less, and I have chosen only 10% of one molecular
machine to illustrate the point. For a detailed study of how much flexibility there
is in the amino acid order for a functional protein see: Truman, R.,
The ubiquitin protein: chance or design? Journal of Creation 19(3):116–127,
2005; creation.com/ubiquitin. Return to text.
- Even if the universe were 10 times bigger and 10
times older, this only makes it 10112 experiments. No matter how you
jiggle the numbers, the number of possible experiments comes up way short. Return to text.
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